Conviction of Nawaz upheld

In a split decision on former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's appeal against his two life sentences, Chief Justice Sayed Saeed Ashhad, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Wahid Bux Brohi of the Sindh High Court upheld the punishment for hijacking but threw out the prison term for terrorism.
The Sindh High Court rejected a state appeal demanding the execution of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif for hijacking and terrorism, officials said.
In a packed court, the three-judge High Court panel ruled on three appeals related to Nawaz's conviction in April for hijacking and terrorism involving events on the night of the military coup in October last year.
His supporters immediately hailed the decision as a setback for military ruler General Pervez Musharraf, who they accused of a campaign of victimisation against Sharif and his family.
Nawaz was convicted for trying to stop a jet carrying Musharraf, who he had just sacked as army chief, and 198 passengers from landing in Pakistan on October 12, 1999.
In wild scenes outside the court, Nawaz supporters loudly denounced the military government and shouted slogans in support of the former prime minister. Up to 20 people were taken away after police charged in with batons to disperse the crowd.
Tax evasion
Nawaz, who remains head of his Pakistan Muslim League (PML), was also given 14 years in July for tax evasion and his family is facing another two corruption charges.
Nawaz's wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, said her husband was innocent, and alleged the court had handed down a politically-motivated decision. "What is there to be happy about. I am disappointed. My husband is innocent,and should have been freed," said a dejected Kulsoom in Karachi yesterday.
"There were so many irregularities, weaknesses, loopholes and discrepancies in the case filed by the government that the judges should have thrown it out. They retained the punishment instead. Why I want to ask? What had my husband done? He was within his constitutional right to remove a disobeying army chief of staff and he was punished in a case, which is yet to be proven."
Split judgement
When told that the judgement was a split one, as one of the three judges on the bench, had recorded a dissenting note, suggesting that Nawaz should have been punished for a maximum of three years for abduction and fined Rs 500 million, she said "that is no relief for me"
Asked whether she intended appealing to the Supreme Court Kulsoom said, "Yes , we will fight it out". The judgement is not expected to bring a qualitative change as both the life terms, awarded earlier had to run concurrently, and Nawaz in any case, had to be in jail for at least 14 years.